ED attaches land worth over Rs 193 cr in Srinagar in JKSCB loan fraud case

A land in Srinagar worth more than Rs 193 crore has been attached by the Enforcement Directorate under the anti-money laundering law as part of an investigation into a loan fraud involving the Jammu and Kashmir State Cooperative Bank (JKSCB).

A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to freeze the asset, which measures 257.19 kanal and is located in the Shivpora area of Srinagar, the federal agency said in a statement.

The value of the property is Rs 193.46 crore, it said.

The agency, earlier this month, had arrested former JKSCB chairman Mohammad Shafi Dar and Mohammad Hilal A Mir, the chairman of the River Jhelum Cooperative House Building Society, a "fictitious firm", as part of the investigation. They are in judicial custody till December 20.

The PMLA case pertains to an alleged fraud in sanctioning of a loan to the tune of Rs 250 crore (disbursement amount Rs 223 crore) in 2019 to the River Jehlum Co-operative House Building Society by Dar.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) took cognisance of a August 2020 charge-sheet filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against Dar, Mir and others for offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The other accused include Abdul Hamid Hajam, secretary of the River Jehlum Co-operative House Building Society, Mohammad Mujeeb Ur Rehman Ghassi, a former registrar of the Cooperative Societies, J&K, and Syed Ashiq Hussain, a former deputy registrar of the Cooperative Societies, J&K.

"Money derived out of the said (loan) fraud was utilised for acquiring the immovable property that has been attached," the ED said.